Italy Holiday Party... yum...

Posted on February 20, 2010 at 11:30 am | italy | No comments

I’ve been here in Italy almost a year now…and recently was prompted to think about how this big change in my life has affected me.  Been getting into digital scrapbooking, so will post here as I create.  Here are some I’ve done already…

A New Home...

In the news 2009

thinking about my wedding...

Posted on January 18, 2010 at 7:10 pm | italy, life thoughts | No comments

Hope you have a very merry christmas, happy holidays, buone feste, buon natale, auguri…you get the drift!  Christmas day…wow, time has really flown by.  I didn’t get the chance to visit a whole bunch of towns here in Tuscany with Christmas markets as I had imagined.  It’s a pretty big deal in Italy as open air Christmas markets spring up during the holiday season with lots of goodies in pretty much all the major piazzas at one point or another.  Oh well, there will be a next time…however, I was able to visit Florence to check out the cool new street lights and decorations that have been installed.

Florence xmas lights

Some of the shops have lovely holiday setups as well…ooo…this time of year always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  I guess it’s cool also because Chanel is right there…hehe.

Christmas trees along the street

Another big holiday setup is the nativity scenes.  People create the scene with figurines in their homes for decoration and churches setup large installations for the public as well.  This lovely arrangement was in the Duomo in Florence…ooo…Christmas…such a wonderful time of year!

Nativity scene in Florence Duomo

Posted on December 25, 2009 at 12:16 pm | italy | No comments

So that day trip to San Marino was cancelled because it snowed last weekend in Tuscany.  Why all the shock?  Well, it hasn’t snowed in this manner since 1985 and it normally doesn’t snow ever here.  We just aren’t in the snow zone geographically.  Well, things have changed apparently!  I suppose it can be worrying regarding climate change, but it was really a delightful surprise more than anything else.

Snow Capanne 2009

My first official winter in Italy and it snows, woohoo!  My family spent the weekend playing in the snow and having lots of fun together as well as eating a lot of food.  See the snowman my family made?

Pupazzo di neve

It’s all fantastic, except for the longer-lasting effects of the sudden snowy weather.  Transportation has been severely affected here in Italy, everyone says it’s just much more snowy even in places that expect it.  So of course there are the major delays of trains, cancellation of flights, blocked freeways, utilities going out due to damage, etc.  The list goes on.  We’ve been having a lot of blackouts in our town, highly annoying when I’m working on the computer.  It’s funny though that many folks used the weather as an excuse to skip work and complain about various things.  Oh Italia…

Snowy leaf

Posted on December 24, 2009 at 1:08 am | italy | No comments

Things have been a bit rough lately and I haven’t felt much like blogging my personal thoughts.  However, it’s high time I get back into the groove and share how wonderful living in Tuscany really is…to do it all justice.  The holiday season here in Italy is one of the most pretty and fun times of year.  There are lots of open air holiday markets and the old towns are decorated with lights, each with unique designs.  It’s less a time of consumerism and more a time of family – that’s how I feel as compared to typical American shopping frenzies I’ve experienced.

It’s pretty cool to see how families come together for the holidays and there is ample vacation time for kids and adults alike.  Folks get time off for Christmas, New Years and La Befana – a female Italian folklore character celebrated on January 6th.  More often than not, these holidays are strung together and many get a long vacation just like when we were kids.  Pretty nice setup…it’s always been said the Europeans know how to take it slow.

Tomorrow I am heading out for a day trip to the Republic of San Marino – an independent state within Italy.  Supposedly lovely Christmas markets and such…however, it just started snowing so I wonder if the trip is still on!  I’ll update soon.  For now, I leave you with lovely thoughts of Christmas time cheer, roasting chestnuts and snuggling at home with family.

Posted on December 18, 2009 at 6:13 pm | italy | No comments

As always, the days have been flying by and lately I have been finding it difficult to concentrate on anything. I am thankful that some freelance work is picking up, so at least I am forced to be productive given certain deadlines.  My brother visited this past weekend, so it was nice to just chill and have a valid excuse to not work.

However, I am feeling the pressure this week, because a friend will be arriving this Thursday night for a two-week long visit.  We are going to Munich for Oktoberfest and then back to Italy for random roaming.  This means I must finish more than two weeks of work in about two days. Ugh! Need to really focus, but I have a knack for finding something else to occupy my time…like blogging randomly.  Sigh sigh…

Balloons during our town's Festa della Madonna - I feel like I'm just floating around...

Posted on September 29, 2009 at 11:16 am | italy | 1 comment

Even though we are all appreciating the cooler weather as Autumn approaches, I am feeling a bit nostalgic and missing our summer day trips already.  More photos on my Flickr photostream…

Posted on September 2, 2009 at 1:56 pm | italy | 1 comment

The other day my husband and I decided to go on a day trip to the little town of Collodi to visit the Parco Di Pinocchio and the neighboring gardens of Villa Garzoni.  We were inspired to visit after reading about the area in a travel magazine.

Pinocchio

Although it was burning hot, I had fun visiting the locations since I had never been there and everything was new.  I also learned that the real Pinocchio story is nothing like the Disney version I grew up with.  In fact, it seems to be much darker and scarier…so I decided to buy the original book – Italian version – to sharpen my language skills and learn the truth!  There’s something exciting about reading stories in their original language as well.  Pinocchio Park was a bit disappointing as a whole because it is meant for little kids.  My husband and I were the only people around without a kid!  Oops…tourist literature failed to mention these details.  Not to mention I felt it was a big rip off as activities within the park were at an additional cost to the entrance fee.  Hmm…for the state of the park and attractions I wouldn’t say it was the best deal!

This is me strangling the snake!

The Garzoni gardens that also included the Collodi Butterfly House was much more worth the entrance fee.  Wondrous gardens like you would imagine and it was pretty cool to see the butterflies up close and personal inside the house.  We hiked up to the very top fountain of the garden as well, not realizing high noon probably wasn’t the best time with this brutal weather.  Too bad there was no entry to the villa itself, only the garden.

Looking up the Garzoni garden...

Looking down after hiking to the very top!

Overall, it was still worth visiting one time.  I decided to search for more treasures in Tuscany because I’m sure there are fabulous places to visit that might not be so openly advertised.  I would love to visit places with history and culture that inspire me as well.  I just wish the level of conservation and maintenance was higher in Italy!  It’s so sad to see the beauty from the past just deteriorate…

Pretty things I saw...

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 7:19 pm | italy | 1 comment

Even though I know it to be true – I still shock myself when counting the months that I have been living here in Italy.  The first six months after officially moving have nearly flown by, now just a memory for me.  Now it’s August, the mandatory month of vacation for my husband (and many others in certain industries).  Most everyone in Italy takes time off in mid-August to go on vacation.  I suppose it’s just too hot and humid to do anything else.

Lately I’ve been in a reflective mood and realized there are still so many things that I need to get used – or perhaps I will never get to that point?  Besides politics, corruption and injustices that I never can understand properly or accept…there are lots of little cultural things.  I’m starting to think I sound like a total dork, but one of those things are topless girls.  Seriously, I am so not used to see women topless.  Now, at the beach I suppose I’m getting used to it since I realize women just don’t want horrible tan lines.  However, in regular advertisements, TV shows and magazines…not the X-rated kinds, but normal ones…it’s totally okay for women to be topless and nearly all naked.

I have nothing against the female nude and must agree that the female body is just prettier to look at (sorry guys).  However, I still freeze a bit in terror when I come across said advertisements or magazine spreads.  It’s like, oops – oh wait – no, it’s just a regular magazine…hmm.  I just have to get used to the culture, right?

I’m not sure it’s something I will ever get used to.  Or the fact that many folks can look at these magazines with their parents and gossip about it.  Gosh, I must come from the most conservative family ever it seems!  What happened to the boundaries!?!?

Posted on August 13, 2009 at 11:40 pm | italy, life thoughts | 2 comments

It has been very hot these days, with record highs throughout Italy.  Whew…being a Californian girl, hot summers are nothing new.  However, humidity and lots of sweating is something new indeed.  Dry hot versus wet hot – is one better than the other?  Amazingly, I still have dry skin even with all the humidity!

The heat is really making it difficult for me to do anything for long periods of time.  I stop to rehydrate, wipe off sweat, wash my face, stand by the fan and such distracting things.  So annoying!  I guess it’s a silly complaint…and if you haven’t realized already, we don’t have air conditioning here.  Back in California everyone had air conditioning or you could run to the mall or public places to cool down.  Here in Italy (perhaps because we are in a smaller town?) places don’t usually have air conditioning units installed or when they do it’s not set at full-blast where it feels freeeezing indoors and scalding hot when you step outside suddenly.

I suppose it’s a good thing to sweat a little sometimes and slow down your life.  However, it’s also a really good excuse for me to do nothing.  Giving into major laziness…so this is why there’s siesta and nap times, especially in the summer.

My sunflowers! - I miei girasoli!

The lovely thing about summer here in the Tuscan hills though, are the lovely views of sunflowers all over.  I can see fields and fields right from my bedroom terrace!  We also tried planting some and although they turned out a bit skimpy inside pots instead of in the real earth and soil, the first one flowered today!  A little one, but so cute and lovely to see the bright yellow.  Makes me smile…

Posted on July 17, 2009 at 4:01 pm | italy | 3 comments